Fuel line; anemometer; cosmetics

On Saturday, I finally removed the leaky fuel line from the engine, with quite a bit of difficulty as it was not very reachable, down in the depths of the engine compartment and obscured by a lot of other stuff between. In the end an ugly contraption of wrench extenders did the job. While I had the engine compartment open wide, I took a couple photos. Here’s the engine block; you can see the four fuel injectors and the return line, starting behind the oil fill cap:

Here’s the fuel injector connection that was leaking badly, after removing the fuel line:

And last, here is the fuel line itself, which I’ll take to a mechanic and try to get replaced. Actually, it may be sufficient to replace a gasket inside the connection.

Later I climbed the mast, with Doug belaying, to take a look at the masthead with the installation of an anemometer/windvane in mind. As things are now I have no way of determining apparent wind speed and direction very accurately. The masthead is a little bit of a mess but there should be room to install a transducer and run its wire into the mast. Running the wire inside the mast, on the other hand, is going to be difficult. I will likely try a fishing line and lead weight approach, as there is a hole in the bottom of the mast that should be big enough to hook the weight through. Now that I think about it, I should probably try and run the fishing line before I go out and buy a transducer! I am probably going to go for the Nasa Marine NMEA masthead unit and possibly their Clipper head unit. I’d prefer not to get the head unit, honestly, but it seems it is probably required for calibration.

While I was up the mast, I attached a wire halyard to the head of the mainsail, which we can hopefully use to haul it all the way up and avoid the stretching problem we’ve been having with the small furling halyard.

I also removed the dangling AC wire that used to go to the old stove’s spark-lighter, and Sunday installed the vents I picked up at Lowe’s in NY over some of the old DC switch and panel holes. Port side:

Starboard side:

Still one more hole next to the new battery switches that needs covering up, probably with some mica or something.

I also spent a bunch of time this weekend researching solar panels. One of mine is dead, which is understandable since it’s 22 years old. However, that leaves two 43W panels which are also ancient and not really generating at their original capacity. I’ve been unable, of course, to find new panels with a similar form factor, so replacing just the dead one is probably not going to happen. But, the cost of solar panels is pretty reasonable these days; I am considering picking up a couple 85W panels to replace all three of my existing ones. I may then move the two existing working ones to the cockpit roof, where they won’t be in the way of anything but could still be useful for 4-5A.

Lastly, I also did some research on riggers in the vicinity. I haven’t had much luck finding anything in Singapore. Phuket, on the other hand, is full of options. Eventually I need to get rid of the roller furling main and replace it with something traditional and sane. My primary option is to revert the existing rig back to its original pre-furling state — there is still most of a track for hanks on the mast, and the rest is sitting on the deck and can be re-welded. However, I’m also considering the more drastic alternative of extruding a new mast altogether, probably adding a few feet to the leech in the process. That would of course be expensive, but maybe not vastly more so than what I’m already considering. We’ll see; it’s something to ruminate on.

One Response to Fuel line; anemometer; cosmetics

Nice new hatch.
I have a catalina 22. I am looking for a hatch that needs a little work. I would like to buy your old one if you have it and try to pry out the old glass and have someone install new plastic.

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We are Charlene and Kris, a Singaporean and American couple living in SE Asia. Oia is our boat. She's a 40' sloop outfitted for cruising; she has lain in Singapore for a couple years and is now nearly ready for some real sailing. This blog is about the trials, tribulations, and adventures of learning more about Oia, living on a boat, and sailing in Southeast Asia!